Thursday, September 13, 2012

Don Mattingly finally did what everyone had been clamoring for since the blockbuster deal: he shook up the lineup. Streaky Andre Ethier switched places with Sucky Shane Victorino, Ethier batting second and Victorino batting sixth. Sure, not much, but a departure from the norm nonetheless.

And things looked promising in the first, when Mark Ellis singled, Ethier walked, and Adrian Gonzalez cashed in one run with a RBI double.

But that was it. The Dodgers' offense went back to its somnambulating state and didn't muster a threat since then. We couldn't even get a RISP after that fateful first inning (save a meaningless two-out Hanley Ramirez 2B-not-HR in the ninth, which Shane Victorino quickly rendered moot with a weak fly out to left). In the seventh, Luis Cruz reached on a one-out error (excitement!), only to have PR Dee Gordon get nailed at second CS (expected!).

Hanley Ramirez went 1-for-4 with 2 Ks, and no Dodger got more than one hit (the Dodgers had six total hits all game). And so we fall two back in the wild card "race." Which isn't much of a race, if we decide not to bat in eight of the nine innings.

The baseball gods remain aligned against us. Even a move that Mattingly had resisted with all of his strength, but finally conceded, proved fruitless. We look at second base lustily like it's the holy grail, but even if we were to make it to there, I don't know if we know what to do next. We may as well fire Tim Wallach and use that money to go grab a prospect or maybe a new batting cage. There is no hope.

as i have been sayng all year, its time for AJ and his OBP to move to the top of the order. A Ellis/Ellis 1-2 punch not only gets people on in front of the big bats, but allows the some power/bad OBP guys (Rivera, Cruz) a chance to feast on some fastballs in front of the pitcher.